


Fire Lily

by fractalbright



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Study, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:43:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fractalbright/pseuds/fractalbright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fire lilies have important lessons to teach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire Lily

The anger is rolling off Mai in waves and her body is so stiff, she nearly shaking as rage consumes her. She can't remember a time where she was as livid as she is right now.

It should be physically impossible to feel so much pure, unadulterated rage toward to woman that gave her life, but Mai finds herself capable of it.

Her face betrays nothing, but the tension in her shoulders is enough to alert the trained eye. Fortunately, no one in her household bothers to pay attention.

Mai briefly wonders if that should bother her as much as it does. She should be used to being overlooked, after all, she thinks sardonically.

Mai shuts her room doors with deliberate slowness. She will suggest to no one the extent of her anger. She will not give her mother the satisfaction of proving that she actually got to her. Tense, she makes her way over to her closet, hands itching to break something. In the furthest corner of her room sits a vase of what used to be blossoming fire lilies. Not even a couple of days old, the petals are beginning to wilt without the sun's rays and earth's soil to nourish them. They look sad and withdrawn; Mai finds herself relating to the dying flowers with a scornful smile.

"You needn't worry about the flowers, Mai. There are many, fire lilies are in abundance in the Fire Nation; too many, in fact. We will replace them once they shrivel."

Mai ponders her mother's words as she changes into simpler clothing; clothing no one in her family knows she owns. Mai chuckles darkly, they're not even hers; they're Zuko's clothing. She imagines what her mother's reaction would be to such a scandal.

The vase is like her mother, Mai concludes, glaring at what is essentially an elaborate cup. The vase is a pretty little thing housing prettier little things like possessions, keeping the flowers to itself and preventing the them from flourishing and growing. Instead, the vase suffocates the flowers, keeping them restrained. Finally, when the flowers have succumbed to their captor, they are replaced and deemed ugly by her pretentious mother. They are expendable.

Without thinking, Mai strides over to the bedside table where the vase resides. Anger pulsing through her like a heartbeat, Mai forcibly throws the vase against the wall, delighting in how it shatters and crashes to the floor. She hates fire lilies. They're too bright, too vibrant and fall too easily in her mother's smothering grasp. Fire lilies are simply too much. They are too much to bear, too much to handle, and too goddamn weak.

So much for keeping her composure, she reflects while looking at the shattered porcelain and pathetic looking flowers with water pooling around the scene.

Disregarding the mess, Mai adjusts her over-sized leggings. She momentarily clenches her fists, cracking her knuckles in the process. Breaking the vase hadn't done much to quell the growing anger within her. It still snapped and fought like a beast, itchy to break her cool exterior. Shaking her head, Mai opens the trapdoor in her closet and reaches inside to withdraw the satchel containing her various knives. She begins strapping them to her person, finding comfort in the cool metal pressing against her skin.

Her home also feels like the vase. She feels suffocated.

Mai needs to blow off steam, and resolves that a tree is a better target than her superficial mother.

Or maybe…

The idea is so stupid, she thinks, that it just might work.

Resolving that she has completely lost her mind, Mai takes down her hair, leaving it hanging down her back, intent on leaving it so; however, a glance in her mirror reveals two horrific dents in her hair where her buns were, and she tightly braids the silky strands over her shoulder instead. Mai doesn't want to be recognized if she's caught, and if she is, she doesn't want to look like an asylum escapee. She shudders to think of the consequences that would follow. And of course, she thinks sarcastically, what that would do to her parents' image.

Irritated all over again, Mai takes a calming breath before exiting her home through her bedroom window. Light on her toes with the stealth of an assassin, Mai sneaks out of her home like a thief and enters the cool, nighttime air that washes over her like a balm, soothing her nerves. The sky is clear and the stars are shining; the moon casts a tranquil radiance over the courtyard, the muted colours giving the palace a much more inviting feel instead of an intimidating one. Cloaked in darkness, the palace looks quiet. Mai feels her anger dissipating in the palace's serenity at night.

Deciding against returning home, Mai inhales the pure air, reveling in the sensation of cleansing it brings to her soul. She's gotten this far already, she may as well follow through with her plan. Weaving through the royal garden, she stops near a patch of fire lilies, captivated by their understated beauty, so different from the persona they execute during the day.

They look different encompassed by shadows, she determines. A good different. While they thrive with vitality and life in the daytime, they represent something calmer in the night. Subdued by choice, yet still lively as a gentle breeze sweeps over the garden, rustling the petals slightly.

They are beautiful.

Mai bends down to pick a lily for herself, but decides against it, determining that the flower looks better among her sisters. She won't be the one to smother such beauty.

"Do you see something over there?" A low male voice asks, startling Mai out of her reverie. She just manages to prevent herself from crashing into the garden. Her eyes widen in shock and she hears the footsteps approaching her vicinity.

"Trespassers, perhaps? Either that, or an idiot excuse for an assassin."

Well, obviously they're not too worried about assassination attempts if they're still that far away.

The flare of fire illuminating the courtyard was enough to send all sarcastic comments flying out of Mai's mind. She mutters a curse and runs out of there immediately. The last thing she needs is an accusation of treason hanging over her head.

Before she realizes it, Mai's at the small pond she watched Zuko and the former Fire Lady used to feed the turtle ducks. Slowly, Mai walks over the tree and gingerly sits beneath it, watching the moon's reflection rippling in the water. Closing her eyes, she looks back on her actions that night, ashamed of her behaviour. It's not like Mai to lash out in such a way; she's usually in better control of her emotions.

No wonder her mother is disappointed in her.

Her mother's words echo in her mind: "you mustn't throw yourself at the prince, Mai. I've heard the rumours of your little exploits. It's classless; you must stay pure if this… tryst with the prince does not work out. We cannot have an impure daughter, Mai; have you any idea of what such accusations could do to your father's reputation?"

Zuko's return to the Fire Nation had formed a rift between her parents; well, a larger one, perhaps. Upon his return, Mai found herself unable to part with the formerly banished prince, and he felt the same. They were merely making up for lost time.

Mai wonders what her mother meant by trysts. Trysts could mean a lot of things; Zuko and Mai weren't always discrete, after all. She didn't care. She is tired of hiding, but that didn't mean she was going to take her Fire Prince in the middle of the courtyard. Her mother was over reacting.

Much like how Mai did.

Mai sighs. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's afraid to go back.

"Mai, is that you?"

Flinching slightly, Mai wonders how many times she'll be interrupted (startled) tonight. "What are you doing out here, Zuko?" She asks, turning toward him.

"I could ask you the same thing," he's smirking, but his eyes are soft. "Are you okay?" He asks, sitting beside her under the tree. She leans her head on his shoulder and he slings an arm around her.

Mai doesn't answer his question directly. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to spar with me."

"In the middle of the night…"

"Yes."

Realizing she won't clarify, he asks, "why?"

"Don't worry about it," she means it. "I'm going to be okay." As long as you're here.

Zuko shifts, confused, but he lets the matter go. As difficult as Mai is to read, her relaxed stance tells him she's being sincere.

Zuko is like a fire lily in the day, Mai realizes as she watches the burning curiosity in his eyes. He's vibrant, high-strung and wears his heart on his sleeve. He radiates life while she is cool and distant. They make quite the match, she realizes. Fire lilies are not weak, they withstand, much like Zuko has his entire life. They are loud, boisterous and vivid in even the most unlikely circumstances, whether it's trapped in a tasteless vase, away from their home.

Perhaps fire lilies aren't all bad.

"What are you doing out here, Zuko?"

Zuko pauses, "…sometimes when I can't sleep, I come out here – there's something about the palace at night… and it reminds me of my mom," he trails off in a whisper. Mai understands and responds by wrapping an arm around his waist and snuggling into his shoulder. His presence is enough to make her forget about her ill-feelings toward her mother, and more importantly, herself.

Zuko is her sun, Mai decides. While she can create her own foundation and build herself up from the ground, Zuko provides her with the light she needs to bloom. He is Mai's salvation.

"Can we go back to your room?" Mai asks, feeling sleep creeping up on her, drawing her into its sweet clutches.

"Oh?" Zuko replies with that oh-so familiar glint twinkling in his eyes. Mai rolls her eyes.

"I'm already in a huge amount of trouble back home; I might as well make my punishment worth it."


End file.
